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Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Little man has been sleeping around 11 hours straight at night so I think I can officially say night weaning FREAKING WORKS. Please please give it a try if you are having the same issues we were, I can't say enough good things about it. Of course every baby is different but I never thought 2 months ago I would be saying Cash slept through the night before his little sister was here!! Of course mom is up at 5 due to pregnancy insomnia but that's a whole other story ;)

I thought I'd round up a few of Cashy's favorite things at 11 months old. We're always looking for new, fun toys too so if you have any suggestions please let me know!!

Monday, February 17, 2014

4 weeks from today baby makes her debut! I AM SO READY. Emotionally still scared and nervous about having two, but just really ready to meet her and for her to join our family. I start going to the doctor every week now to get updates. She said since I was late with Cash, I'll probably be late with her. Bah hum bug. ALSO she gave me the option to induce at 39 weeks but nothankyougoodlord. I'll wait patiently until she is given an official eviction notice.

Cash has officially been sleeping through the night for about a WEEK now! We had one really off night because he had a tooth coming in, but he put himself back to sleep eventually and we haven't had to hear him cry since! Then one morning he woke up at 5 AM but just played in his crib for a few hours without crying. I made it a rule to not go in there to get him until 7 AM (unless he starts screaming and it's like 6:30) but so far he's been an angel with the 7 rule. Brett & I actually stayed up to watch TWO MOVIES this weekend. Something we haven't done in like a year and a half. It's a big deal you guys.

There's also someone I want to introduce you to that I think has been a huge help in night weaning. Maybe it's all in my head but now I can't imagine not having THIS. We have the regular Graco Sound Machine in his room which he's heard since he was a wee one and I am never giving that up. But I read about this other thing in one of the 100 books I ordered about sleep training so thought we'd try it. We put it outside his room and crank up the white noise setting. You see our house is really open and there is no carpet aka you can hear freaking e-v-e-r-y-t-h-I-n-g. And having 3 dogs who love to bark doesn't help either. Anyways, this little machine seems to help block out all the noise going into his room so we use it every night and now have started to use it during nap time too. Highly recommend.

One last thing, a special shout out to Brett who's been my biggest support system through this pregnancy and journey of momma-hood so far. He made my Valentine's so special and I'd go to another concert until 1 AM with him any time :) Love you bebe!

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

I'm sitting here drinking a cup of coffee. Watching the monitor. On which my child is sleeping. And has been since 7:30 PM last night. No crying, no nothing. Y'all, this is the second night in a row this has happened. I didn't want to write a blog post yesterday because if I did and was all like YAAA THIS SHIZ WORKS, then he was up the next night, I'd feel pretty defeated. But 2 nights in a row calls for a celebration. And if he goes 3 nights? Well shit, he might get his 1st birthday cake a month early.

I honestly feel like night weaning worked/is working for us. Just last month we were up twice a night and he was easily consuming 10 ounces. And now that we KNOW he's not hungry and is capable of sleeping straight through feedings, I am mentally ok if he wakes at 5 AM and cries/whines for a while without running in there with a bottle. I hope these good/positive posts continue for the next few days and this is a permanent thing! If anyone wants to know more details or wants to try night weaning feel free to message me! You know I love me some FB messages.

Moving on...while we're both basking in the fact that we get to sleep straight through the night as well, it's kind of funny that in 5 weeks we will revert to newborn sleep deprivation. New parents you know what I mean. Where your eyes are literally SO HEAVY and you think to yourself omg I never knew it was possible to be this tired. Or looking out your window at 2 AM and thinking, god I hate everyone else who is sleeping right now. Or going out in public and looking at someone and thinking, I bet you got like 10 hours of sleep last night- I hate you. That was just me? Ok. Embarrassing. Anyways, we are so lucky that we have a ton of help now that we are back in Houston and I'm hoping this time around I will be able to nap a little during the day to get back on track (who am I kidding, napping for me = FB and blogging time).

Random news:

Cash is THIRTY TWO (and a quarter) inches tall. Putting him in 100% for height.
He turns 1 year old 2 days after baby girl's due date. Ha.
I have my first official check up at the doctor this Friday to see if I'm dilated/effaced. (let's not get our hopes up)
And Cash is officially awake- 7 AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good job little man.

Monday, February 10, 2014

NIGHT 11 (SUNDAY)Bedtime: 7:30 PMWoke: 4 AM (drank: 2 oz)Awake for the day: 6:45/7 AM
Last night was probably the easiest night we've had so far. He woke up squirming and whining around 4 AM (late for him!!) and we decided to go ahead and continue with the feed since we didn't want to mess up the night weaning schedule. Brett fed him 2 ounces and back to sleep he went with minimal fussiness. This made me think of what might happen next....I have a feeling he is going to start waking up early-- say around 5/5:30 and I'm scared I won't know what to do! Is that too late of a time to let him CIO? Or is he hungry and wanting to eat/go back to sleep?? Or is he awake for the day?? I feel like that early morning wake/feed/back to sleep routine is what got us into this mess in the first place. If he wakes up and gets fed at 5AM, how is 1/2/3/4 AM any different? My gut tells me to let him figure it out and don't go in his room until a set time (aka 6:30-7) to get him up. Might take a while for him to adjust but hopefully it would happen over time. Just had to get that all off my chest.

Brett's going out of town tonight so I'm doing one more 1/2 scoop of formula until he gets back then we are to 100% water!!!! I need his support obviously in case this completely backfires on me. No thank you to being by myself for that.

In baby girl news, as of today we are exactly FIVE weeks away. I guess I need to pack the hospital bag? And come up with a plan? I'm getting a little nervous because with Cash I got induced and never ''went into labor'' on my own. So it's still kind of a guessing game what progressing contractions feel like. Unless my water straight up breaks, then duh. Which I think will be hilarious if it happens in a really public and embarrassing place.

**he only cried for FIVE MINUTES last night. FIVE MINUTES!! Until total silence and back to zzzzz land.

At this point his bottle is basically water. We add half a scoop of cereal for 2 more nights then it's TOTALLY water. These past few nights have mentally prepared us for what's to come when we don't go in with a bottle at all. But I'm still so nervous about just how long he will be crying. I know it needs to be done though. And you know the best part right now? He woke up hungry this morning for his bottle. That hasn't happen in MONTHS. I haven't had to chase him around with one today and he's been a thirsty little bee. Brett & I really really really think this is somehow working so fingers crossed for more good updates tomorrow and the rest of the week!

Friday, February 7, 2014

But today was the first day of transitioning Cash from 2 naps a day to just ONE. Uno. I feel like that deserves an entire other post/explanation since he's only 10 months old and most ''books'' say this doesn't happen until like 15-18 months. Moving on to last night :)

For the first time in a while, he refused to go to sleep at bedtime. After about an hour and a half battle, he finally gave in and snoozed until 3 AM. Then he was playing in his crib which turned to the usual crying for a bottle/comfort. Brett went up there with the 6 ounces and after an hour he had only gotten about 3 down and was just playing/refusing to eat. So he put him back in his crib and apparently that was just not OK. At this point it was 4 AM, we were both up and watching the monitor and made the decision to let him CIO. He obviously was not hungry and it seemed like the only option we had or we would be going in and out all night trying to get him back to sleep. Little man cried for about 30 minutes and then drifted off to zzzzzzz land all by himself. I WAS SO PROUD! And after that he slept until 7:30 AM! (PS yes of course it was hard to let him cry and yes I was a basket case of anxiety) BUT it worked. And after last night I definitely feel ''more'' prepared when we take the bottle away completely.

Only 3 more nights to go! And thank you everyone for reading and following along!

I woke up around 3:15 to Cash talking to himself in his crib. He wasn't upset and he didn't seem bothered/hungry. I let him roll around for about 30 minutes until he was completely silent. I was staring at the monitor like a HAWK thinking that any minute he would stand up and demand the bottle. But then he was silent...for like 15 minutes!! So I got myself back in bed and started to doze off...silly mom...why would you do that? Cue the screaming at 4 AM. I make the bottle, go up there, and bravely only try to feed him 3 ounces like B had the night before. He was pretty much asleep in my arms by then so I laid him back down and left the room. Well mom does not have the magic touch apparently...cue screaming again. Sleep = not happening. I gave him more and he drifted back to sleep around 4:45/5. He only drank 1 more ounce so I'm not sure he was really that hungry either...we'll see what tonight brings.

We had a checkup yesterday and his pediatrician laid it all out for me: we need to completely retrain him. (Which obviously I already knew). She said that we should skip this night weaning and go straight to water. She even suggested just leaving a sippy cup of water in his crib so when he wakes up he can get some and go back to sleep-- but I know my child better than that. He will sit there and play with that sippy cup for HOURS. Drop it over the crib. Cry because he dropped it over the crib. Etc etc. That for us is not an option. Anyways, I want to finish what we started with the night weaning. We have managed to get it down to him waking up only ONE time at night which is more than I thought possible a month ago, so maybe something is working?

So I told her we want to finish it out and then we will do the sleep training over again. I explained to her that he cried for two hours (and that surely can't be normal) and he HAD to be hungry right!! And she said that the longest she has heard of was FOUR HOURS and that it will be hell for a few nights/weeks but it is doable and we.can.do.this. His body is built to go 12 hours at night without eating. If he eats at 7, he should not be hungry until 7 the next morning. If we feed him between then-- say at like 1 AM-- then his body resets another 12 hours. Which is why he isn't hungry for so long in the morning!!! He is still going on that ''12 hour stretch'' and refusing bottles in the morning. She also gave me some great reassurance on the amount he should be getting in one day: 16 to 24 ounces. Stop chasing him around with the bottle. Set strict boundaries. Regain control. Apparently we have much bigger issues we need to tackle. But for now all I can focus on is night weaning...then we move on. Looks like I'll be blogging this whole journey and lord PLEASE let it take only 5 weeks because that's all the time we have left until baby girl gets here.

But of course I will be patient with my little man and do whatever I can to make him a healthier and happier baby.

(PS. Shout out to my friend from middle school, Christine, who I ran into at the doctor's office yesterday. She has the CUTEST baby boy and she told me she reads my blog which basically made me freak out and want to hug her ten times)

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Do I complain enough on here?? I guess I should also say that B & I take turns every other night. So it's not like I'm not getting any sleep ever. But of course being pregnant I don't sleep good anyways, so when he gets up with Cash I can't help but stay awake too. Just wanted to tell you that piece of non pertinent information....NIGHT FIVE (MONDAY)Bedtime: 7 PMWoke: 1:00 AM (ate 3 ounces)Awake for the day: 6:30 AM
**again ate a huge dinner and bottle right before bed but still woke up early in the night. this time he was wide awake sitting up in his crib crying. and did not want to go back to sleep. but he did finally after a 45 minute struggle. this time i do NOT think he was hungry since he only drank 3 ounces and chewed on the bottle most of the 45 minutes.
I started thinking about the night in our near future (5 more days) where we are ''not supposed'' to give him the bottle at all. When you ''know'' he's not hungry. Last time he CIO'd for 2 hours and I don't think I can handle that again, but if I give in does that mean the last 10 nights of ''weaning'' goes out the window??? Anxiety central.
On a happier note, Cash started feeding himself his grilled cheese (which I snuck mashed up peas and tomatoes into BTW) AND a whole cutie orange!!
Toodles
xoxoryann

Monday, February 3, 2014

Thank you to everyone who commented and reached out to me on FB for your advice and encouragement!

We made the decision to switch him to a different formula. I don't want to jinx it but so far it seems like he's drinking a little more during the day so we'll so how that goes...I want to recap our nightly feedings since Friday...

NIGHT TWO (Friday)Bedtime: 7 PMWoke: 2:30 AM (ate 4 ounces)Awake for the day: 6 AM***refused solid foods ALL DAYNIGHT THREE (Saturday)Bedtime: 8:30 PM **tried a later bedtimeWoke: 3:30 AM (ate 6 ounces) Awake for the day: 8 AM!!!!!!!!!!!***ate a big solid food dinner thanks to his god mommy Megan!***in my head I'm thinking, OMG a later bedtime worked this time! It hasn't before but maybe that is the key, hallelujah!! but then came last night.NIGHT FOUR (Sunday)Bedtime: 8:00 PM **tried a later bedtime, againWoke: 1:30 AM (ate 6 ounces on and off). WAS AWAKE FOR OVER AN HOUR. Awake for the day: 7 AMLast night threw me way off- there was no rhyme or reason. He went to bed later, had a huge bottle before bed, and ate the biggest dinner he's ever eaten. Also I managed to squeeze in like 24 ounces all day which is huge for him. When he first woke up I tried to feed him the bottle and he was just chewing on it. Like he didn't want it at all. So I fed him a few ounces and put him back down. He screamed. Repeat process. Until all 6 ounces were gone. And he was fast asleep in my arms. Then he woke up around 5:30, squirmed, and didn't get up for the day until around 7. Which is pretty good- I'll take it. But this makes me question if he was even hungry? Some nights he definitely is. And some nights he definitely needs me and the bottle for comfort. So I think we have a mixture of both problems which is highly confusing and frustrating. Cash is completely sleep trained to GO to bed or to GO down for naps. But during the night it's like he doesn't know how to put himself back to sleep at 1,2,3,4 AM. We tried CIO/Ferber/etc and he will literally scream for 2 hours (which I think I mentioned earlier). This brings us to the night weaning trial..then we move on to CIO again when we KNOW he isn't hungry and only using the bottle for comfort. (Will we ever really know though??? Sigh)Long story short, I have no idea if this ''night weaning'' is working since some nights he drinks 4 ounces and some nights 6. I do know now we are giving him half water and half formula. And tonight he'll get even less formula and more water.Typing this all out just makes me even more confused and exhausted.If you made it this far, thanks for reading!! And nothing makes my day more than when I run into someone and they say ''I read your blog, how did last night go?" LOVE THAT AND LOVE YOU ALL. xoxo,ryann